Really, Universe?
by Bookgeek890
Summary: I die in a wreck and find someone is screwing with me in the afterlife. I don't want to be here. I want to be back in my hut in the woods. And I would much prefer if this was the proper afterlife but hey - what can you do?
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

It was a normal day - wasn't it always? - when I died.

I _died._

God, I fucking _died_ and now I'm stuck in this nothingness.

I remember what happened too. Very vividly, unfortunately. I was headed to class and this dumb-ass semi-truck driver barreled over my car. Like, really dude I knew you needed to get over but I was blocked in. I couldn't move over and I couldn't speed up as I was already on the poor guy in front of me's ass. AND NOW LOOK WHERE I AM NOW BECAUSE OF IT!

I hate truck drivers.

At the very least, I guess I don't have to work on my embedded systems project.

 _*sigh*_ I miss my fiancé. I really hope he is doing okay; but like I said, here we are.

Currently it's a quiet nothingness. I can't tell you if I'm floating or not. I can't hear anything. I can't see anything. I can't taste or smell or feel anything. It's very uncomfortable actually and it is definitely a strange feeling. I can't even properly describe it and you can't even imagine what it is like until you have experienced it yourself. I have no idea how long I have been like this, either. It could've been a minute, it could've been years and I wouldn't be able to tell you though I'd pretty much believe whatever time reference gets told to me because I honestly wouldn't know any different.

I'm getting off track.

I thought death was supposed to be pearly-white gates or fire and pain. Though one could argue that this could potentially be torturous to someone who lived a shit life. Only stuck with your own thoughts for eternity. Or perhaps I have to wait my turn for them to deal with my soul? I guess a good debate for that could be put up, that this is purgatory: A nice waiting room for souls until they can check you in wherever you're supposed to go.

Wait. I think I saw...

Nah, I couldn't've seen...

Right there. It was like a...pulse? A throb? But I could see it. Sort of like when you rub your eyes when they are closed you "see" where your fingers are.

And I getting sprung out of here?!

I freaking hope so, it's boring as crud!

I think I hear murmurs? It's like the dull roar of a huge lunch room.

I swear if I am getting reborn, I am punching someone in the next afterlife set! I had plans of waiting on my man and playing catch-up with family! Not reliving the tutorial of life!

Well, at least colors are starting to come back.

All of a sudden, it felt like a freaking head-rush and like I had been slammed into concrete and all of my senses turned back on to high gear.

Everything was super sensitive but it felt like I had finger and toes.

I'm slowly moving up in the world.

I try to open my eyes but it doesn't seem like it changed anything. I try moving and it is like moving through water.

But can feel something. Grass?

I try opening my eyes again and oh boy was that a mistake. It is wayyyyyyy too bright bro. Way to bright. Someone needs to turn the sun down.

I groaned. Hey I can speak.

"T...T...Testing" Moving my mouth is actually really hard. It felt like it was filled with cotton. If you've ever had had your mouth numbed up and tried to speak while it was, it's like that. "Test. Ing." I breathe out. "Testing. Testing. One. Two. Three." Better, but it sounds a bit weird.

I don't think my ears are properly synced up quite yet.

I laid there for a minute and then tried opening my eyes again. Slowly this time.

Still a bit bright but I think I can manage better this time.

I see a really tall trees with their canopies high in the sky.

I slowly sit up, and test things out. Arms are moving okay, so are the feet. I got clothes on.

I don't see a road so it is safe to assume that I am not near where I died.

I stand up. I'm not dizzy, which is good. But I feel more powerful? Like I am in better shape than when I died.

I pull up my pants leg and go into relave. I can see all my muscles in my leg so it looks like I have my dancer body. I do a quick leap.

Yup. Definitely a dancer body. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was put back into my high school freshman body from 8 years ago. I quickly check my shoulder to see if I could see the tip of a tattoo and there was none. So this definitely can't be the body I died in.

I look down for a better look at my clothes. I don't recognize them as mine. I don't own hiking boots like this, the jeans are of high quality, but not designer, the long johns are actual flannel, and I'm wearing a long sleeve shirt. I hate long sleeve shirts. The jacket is nice, but again, not one of mine. I have a metal thermos clipped to my jeans. I check it and it is empty but it is all stainless steel. I check the pockets and find $300 in cash, a knife, and a hatchet hanging in a belt loop. The knife it decent quality; looks to be good for both skinning wood carving.

I look around again and it is forest everywhere. So the ding-dongs running the afterlife has shoved me in a forest with some money, a knife, a thermos, and were nice enough to provide me clothes. I'm not one hundred percent sure what this is. Is it some sort of test? Is this where everyone ends up? Plopped someone and then sent to fend for themselves? Will I not age or something? Or will I just not be able to die again?

Hmmmmmm. I take the knife and gently press the blade into my forearm. I feel it and it did give a little cut that is bleeding. So I guess I will play by the living world rules until I know otherwise.

Wind started to form and it felt a bit nippy. It didn't feel cold until the air started moving around me. I know I can't just stay here so I decide to start walking. I pick a direction and I walk.

I hear what sounds like birds so there must be some animals here. If I'm playing by the living world rules, then I need to watch for bears, bob cats or mountain lions (since I don't know what forest I am in), and coyotes. It looks like a North American forest so for now I will treat it as such. It doesn't feel like my mountains, they feel too new. The forest doesn't seem worn enough to be my mountains. They stretch up high but they look jagged instead of worn. They reach past the clouds whereas my mountain's tops just brushed into the clouds to create the smoky effect they are known for.

I walk for about 3 hours or so before I hear what sounds like water. I am getting a bit thirsty and hungry so I head towards the sound. Along the way I see some mountain sorrel. I go grab some leaves and shove them in my pocket. _Too bad I don't have any sugar._ I continue down the mountain side until I see the stream. It was extremely clear and even had some watercress and cattails there. I munch on some of the water cress, and fill my thermos with water from the small fall. I look at my reflection and a very young me looks back. I look like me from middle school. My face doesn't have acne and I look like a young teen instead of a young woman. But enough about this, it is starting to get dark.

I need a fire going. And I need enough firewood to keep it going all night. It is going to get cold. I do not have a nice pack with a tent and a sleeping bag or even a freaking hammock. I don't even have a nice Ferro rod. I go and start collecting dead branches and start making a pile near the water. I grab my knife and use it to hack off some low hanging branches. Once I have ten long branches of at least 3 inches in diameter, I start cleaning them up of leaves and twigs. Next to the clearing is a 5 foot rock face. My plan is to stack the firewood near there and have the fire a few feet from that so the heat can reflect back to me during the night. I cut the branches into 2ft chunks and stack them up. From the way the light is, I figure I have about an hour of day light left. I work, faster. I clear the area of leaves and grab stones near the stream. I make a circle with the rocks. I don't have time to dig into the ground a bit to make sure tree roots aren't underneath, but it will have to be fine for now. I pull some bark off of one of the logs and cut it up. I make a fine set of slivers. I then grab 2 sticks and whittle a rounded nub on one and make a notch in the other to act as a starter.

 _This had better work._

I quickly run my hands back and forth down the stick multiple times like I am trying to burrow a hole into the other stick with the one in my hand while the sit on my bed of wood shavings. I grind it as fast as I can for about 15 min until I see a steady line of smoke coming up. I gently blow and see some embers flaring red. Just barely there. I add a small amount of wood shaving on top and gently blow again. It takes a minute but soon enough I have the wood shaving glowing red too. It hasn't flamed up yet, but we are slowly getting to a fire. I make some more wood shaving and add those. A few minutes later and the bark it is on starts to catch. I put it in my makeshift fire pit and I add some dead leaves. I slowly work it up until it is time to add my logs. I stack them in a teepee and then put the now fire-y bundle inside. I wait for that to catch, and work quickly to make a lean-to and a bed made out of pine branches.

Once I finish, I look to see if there are fish I in the river. Not worth it for the night. So I grab some more water cress instead. I eat on that while I build up the fire. Once it is going steady, it is extremely dark out. The sun has set. I grab my sorrel leaves from earlier and slice them up. I put them in my thermos and start boiling the water. I go pull up some of the cattails I saw earlier and throw them on the fire to roast. Once my drink cools, the cattails are ready to chew on as well.

 _Now if only I had my family with me, it would feel like a typical vacation._ _Sleeping in the open air with a large bonfire built up. Eating on our catches for the day and getting squared away to go hunting in the morning. But by myself, it is going to be a long night._

I lay down on my shit bed for the night. The ground is cold, but the pine branches help insulate and the fire is starting to warm up the cushion of air between it and the cliff. I doze throughout the night and when it gets chilly, I get up and add more logs to the fire. The first night was one of the longest nights I have ever known. It was cold. It was damp. A snake decided to curl up next to me.

Unfortunately for me, it would be a long time until I would get out of the woods.


	2. Chapter 2

The first month was hard. I didn't come across any form of civilization and I wanted to stay near my water source. At the very least, I could take care of myself out here. My family had been doing it for generations. After the first few nights, I finally decided to just screw it and start building a more permanent campsite. The nights were cold and I needed a better shelter. My lean-to was only ever meant to be a temporary solution and I ended up making an underground shelter. It wasn't really underground, but it looked like it was part of the mountain side and the temperature inside stayed fairly consistent. At some point I made myself a nice setup for storing food and created a proper fire-pit with a makeshift grill and smoker. I made rope with roots and bark and I made a soft bed out of pine that was raised off the ground. I made a series of hanging pots up in nearby trees where I store my dried meat and herbs to keep it away from bears. I set up some snares and slowly started to create what I call home now.

Overtime, it seemed like I had been dropped in early spring as the weather warmed up a bit. That made it easier for me, since it meant I could build up a food supply for the winter and get enough furs for some clothing. I had built a shelter for firewood storing near my home and another for storing furs that were drying. At some point I found a very nice yew tree that looked to have few deformities. I cut it down and made 6 staves out of it to potentially become good hunting bows later on. I stored the staves with my furs to age.

Getting the salt was a pain in the butt, I am a day and a half's walk away from seawater from where I made my camp so when I went, I tried to spend three days there getting all the salt I can haul back. I can keep my trips down to about once every 30 days.

Near the end of summer, I made trapping pits to try and catch deer or even a bear if I was lucky. I made a survival bow but it wasn't good enough to take down big game. Winter was going to be harsh and I needed fur for clothes and blankets or I would freeze to death. The pitfalls took days to build since I had to do it by hand and the ground was hard pretty much everywhere. I only found one good place where I could dig it deep enough and I had to get creative with some of the drops scattered around my territory. I put warning notches nearby in case there was other people here with me. I wouldn't want to cause them pain in their afterlife. They also helped me remember that they were there. Eventually, I got 4 deer and one had a mountain lion caught. I was wary when I heard the snarls coming from the pit and one of my pikes had caught him in the back legs. I waited until he bled out before venturing down.

Tanning the hide was a long process. It took me 1 and a half months to tan all 5 hides and I had to put a lot of work into it since I didn't have bags of chemicals conveniently nearby. I had to make drying racks and spend ages scrapping and wear down the leather. Not to mention I spent days soaking them and drying them and then soaking them with bark as well. But I managed to have enough fur for another layer of clothing and the rabbits I had caught and skinned made nice gloves and socks. By the time winter came, I had enough furs tanned, I could make 2 blankets which was nice.

Eventually the first snowfall came and I was glad I had warm furs in time for it. By that point it had been 207 days since I had died and woken up in this purgatory. I hadn't spoken since those first few days. I hadn't seen any sign of humans.

Winter came and went. It was long and cold and I am thankful I didn't freeze to death or starve. By now, almost all of my clothes are made up of furs and I have some woven t-shirts and shorts for summer time. It had been so long since I had had any human interaction that I felt like part of the mountain. I felt one with my surroundings. I missed my old life but I enjoyed the freedom being here gave. I only wished I could share it with my boo.

Some more months passed and even my thoughts became quiet. When I did think, it was more in images and feelings than a strong tone of the English language. I became quiet. My footsteps became soft. My breath became silent. I could hear and smell a lot better than before. I could tell you when there was a bear nearby or deer. I could point out to you the mountain lion stalking its prey. I could point to the annoying squirrels in the trees and sneak up on the Canadian geese when they came through. I would've been at peace here if only I had the other half of my soul. If this is heaven, I sure hope that my boo gets placed here with me and he can tell me of what happened when before he died and if someone was able to come by and patch his heart back together. She would have to be something special and I'm sure I would love her. But until then, I would have to work without him. And while I didn't have him, I had a gaping hole in my heart.

And that hole ached something terrible at times. I'd never felt heartache before but this, this is something else. They say time heals all wounds but every day it is like I had just left him. There will be times when I see something beautiful and I will turn to see his expression but he isn't there. I'll move to share my meal with him, but he isn't there. In the early days, I would open my mouth to make a joke and he wasn't there. It feels like he is here next to me but when I see that he is not my heart drops and I feel an emptiness that is jagged. Like something had been ripped out and left the edges to harden.

But I can wait for him. I can wait years if I have to. I have my afterlife semi set-set up and it will work out. I'm sure of it.


	3. Chapter 3

It was 537 days since I was first dumped here before I came across another soul. It was interesting on how I came across him because it would be better to say that he came across me. Winter had set in at this point and snowfall was becoming more and more frequent. It had warmed up enough that I decided to check my traps one last time before I would be forced to more or less stay put and hope my food would last through this winter.

I hiked through and checked all of my snares. They hadn't caught anything, so I went to check my 3 pitfalls. The one in the ground had nothing and the second had some broken spikes – like something had fallen but managed to get out and walk away. The third one I almost decided to not bother looking. I had to climb up over a huge rock face that was iced to be able to safely look in and the memory of the mountain lion being caught in one earlier stayed my hand from moving the blocking rock to look in from ground level. After a few minutes of mental debate, I decided that I would at least try and if it seemed like it was getting too slick, I would just slowly back down.

It was a dumb idea to begin with but to be fair, the rock didn't look or feel as iced over as it ended up being. I got 15 ft up and went to pull myself over the side. I managed to get one foot up and went to stand when my foot slipped. I crashed forward and down at the worst angle. My head slammed into the rock face and I fell all the way down the 15ft drop. Needless to say, my vision went black there for a bit and next thing I know I'm next to a road being carried by someone.

I didn't bother opening my eyes. The last time I tried after my body feeling this beat up was enough of a deterrent that my fuzzy brain was willing to say no to that. And let me tell you, my body feels like it was put through a meat grinder. And it feels like I have a broken leg.

Lovely.

I can also hear a car running – hence my assumption of being next to a road. For all I know, someone drove their car through the woods on some hidden trail with 4 wheel drive.

I felt the person carrying me shift and put me in the car. It smelled like leather and was warm but I could feel a panic working up from being in a car for the first time since I had died.

"Shhhhhh." A low pitched voice softly tried to calm me. A hand reached back and grabbed mine and I couldn't help but grip it tight. It felt lightly cool; my fingers felt numb and sluggish to move. "You're okay. I am taking you to the hospital. It's okay."

Someone must be looking out for me. I don't know what would've happened but from the pain I'm in now, it wouldn't've been anything I would want to go through. I don't know if I can die again or not, but if I can't I wouldn't want to be in agony until I could heal. At the very least hospitals mean pain killers and someone competent setting my leg. But on the other hand, hospitals means lots of loud noises and I'm not sure how long I would be able to stand it before going crazy. There would also be people. I both miss human interaction and don't at the same time. I think I will be fine with it in small quantities with the ability to leave when I want when I am done dealing with that person. In a hospital with a broken leg I would not have that freedom. Not that I exactly have a choice at this point. I made a dumbass decision and I should've left the last trap alone. Hindsight is 20/20 but I should've been more careful.

By the time we got to the hospital, I felt as tense as a wound string. I felt my-self go in and out of awareness on the ride, but while I was in the car I could not stop the innate panic of my subconscious. And because of that, even when I would fade out, I wouldn't relax. I would just stay tightened up which really made my injuries hurt worse. At some point I did bother opening my eyes and I noted the pale male driving and the dark interior of the car before I drifted back out.

I felt them move me to a back board and put a neck brace on (makes sense, I did fall from a significant height) and they worked to do triage while walking. 4 sticks was what it took to get an IV in. 4. Sticks. All because I couldn't force myself to relax enough after being in a damn car fast enough to not cause my vein to collapse. I squinted up but it was bright so I just shut them and faded out to the loud voices around me. I couldn't focus enough to figure out what they said.

When I faded back in, it was to a harsh light being shined in my eye and I immediately flinched and clamped my eyes shut. I felt something warm covering me.

"Sorry." A male said. I slowly opened them back. He had moved the light so I glared at him for that uncomfortable awaking. He was tall, blonde and pale. He had gold eyes. "May I?" He motioned with the pen light. I nodded. _Might as well get it over with._ "Look here." He held a finger up for me to focus on while he checked my pupil response. He seemed satisfied with it. He started probing around my skull. "My name is Dr. Cullen. What's your name?"

I open my mouth but nothing came out but coughs and throat spasms. He was kind enough to pretend to not be fazed and offered me an ice chip. I sucked on it and tried again. "R…" I coughed again. "Ray…" I wheezed out. "Raine." My voice sounds like death.

"Raine?" He asked to confirm. I nodded. He finished his search around my skull. "It looks like you just have a concussion and the cut." He grabs a wipe and removes the gauze on my head. "This might sting," he warned. He cleaned off the blood and then cleaned up the cut itself. He inspected it quickly. "Well, it looks like you need a few stitches." He poured some clear gel on it. "How old are you, Raine?"

I shrugged. I don't know. My body is a lot younger than my mental age and I'm not sure how to count. I don't know how long I was in the nothingness and I don't remember the date of when I died. My body would almost have to be around 14 years old, but I'm not sure. "When do I get to go back home?" I figure I have a mild concussion and at least a broken leg. They will probably keep me overnight since it was a significant fall.

"Where is home?" You are averting the question doctor.

"Back in the forest near where you found me." I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. I would've thought that to be obvious here. Isn't that the point here? Everyone gets to live out the afterlife that makes them happy? I was happy in the woods. Therefore it is my home. I built it, it is mine.

"Hmm." He prodded my cut again. "You might want to close your eyes for this. I'm going to stitch it."

Well, if you are gonna stitch it, I fully agree with closing my eyes. I hate needles and I don't particularly want one that close to my eye. So I complied and fell into a light doze. The warm blanket they covered me with was comfy and my head still felt a bit fuzzy. My leg just ached now it was no longer being moved and my back was sore so I couldn't actually fall asleep.

When he finished, he moved to my leg. I opened my eyes when he gently moved it to pull my pants leg up.

"You have some unusual clothes. How did you get them? Did you make them?" Dr. Cullen asked while feeling up and down it.

I nodded in response.

"Did you make them for fun or out of necessity?" He asked, moving to my ankle.

"Necessity."

"I see. Can you wiggle your toes?" He gently held my leg in place. I could wiggle them, but I had to bite back a wince when doing so. "Well," he sighed. "I'm pretty sure you broke it cleanly. I'll have a nurse take you to get it x-rayed and then we will set it. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much pain are you in?"

"4.5 all over." I responded.

"Do you have a headache?"

I nodded yes.

"Any nausea?"

No.

"Ok, I will send someone in with pain killers and I will see you soon." He smiled, stood up, and he walked out.

A nurse came in, not long after, with a needle and injected it into my port. Immediately, I felt it hit me like ice running through my veins. After about 30 seconds, most of my pain was gone and I felt sleepy. My leg felt like a cloth sack: useless and empty of nerves. Another came in wheeling a gurney. They wrapped my leg in a brace and moved the gurney right next to the bed with it slightly lower. They moved my IV bag to the pole connected to the stretcher, disconnected me from the heart monitor and told me to cross my arms and grab my shoulder. They grabbed the sheet I was on and moved my legs over first. Then they moved my torso. They wheeled me down to X-ray.

When they finished getting an X-ray, they wheeled me back to the room I had been assigned. Not too long after, Dr. Cullen came back in with the pictures to display on a board in front of the bed and a cart with a lot of supplies.

"You lucked out. You don't have any fractures on your spine or on your skull and the break in your leg is clean. Your ankle has a hairline fracture but when we put a cast on your leg it will hold your ankle straight as well. I will put a splint on for now. Your leg is too swelled to put a cast on, but when it is time to check you out, we will look at it again and decide whether to leave the splint or to put a proper cast on." Dr. Cullen removed the neck brace and then went to set my leg. "I will set it on three. One." He quickly pushed the bone into place.

I hissed a growl out when he did. It set all of my nerves on fire in my leg, even with the pain killers they gave me. The doc started to wrap my leg.

"What were you doing before you fell?" He asked.

"Checking trap."

"I didn't see a trap." He wrapped soft cloth all the way from the heel of my foot to my knee.

"Pitfall over the rocks." I answered back. "Had to climb up on the rocks to peer in."

"Couldn't you just move some rocks out of the way and walk into it without needing to go up and over a cliff?" He had a second layer done.

"Chance of a predator being caught. Couldn't risk it." I shuddered in the memory of being caught by a bear in the early days. I had scars on my stomach and back from it. Since then, I was extremely cautious and paid a lot more attention when I was out and about. A potential fall was better in my mind than a pissed off predator caught in my trap.

"I see. Did you need the food?" He was on layer 3.

"The food would've been nice but the skin was more important." Last winter got very cold at times before I could get the fire going up again. I really wanted another layer of clothing. It is too cold to properly tan the hide, but getting the hide in the first place was important in general. Until my staves were finished drying to my liking, I didn't have a bow good enough to take down deer. So anytime my pitfalls worked, it was a huge deal.

"How did you end up in the forest?" He tied off the first section of the splint and pulled out materials for strapping my leg into the hard shell of the splint itself.

"I woke there."

"How long were you in the forest?" He gently pulled my leg up and slid it into the boot.

"537 days."

"That is a long time for a young girl to be alone in the woods." He strapped up my leg and then brought his full attention to me. The line of questioning was feeling more and more like an interrogation instead of curious chit-chat. Thinking might be hard at the moment since my brain is still fuzzy, and I feel a little sleepy due to the drugs they gave me, but I ain't dumb. Drugged me is always more likely to be a quiet stubborn ass rather than cooperate especially when I'm starting to feel like I'm being prodded to a corner. A corner for what, I don't know yet.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Hospital." That is pretty obvious.

"No, do you know what city or state you are in?"

What does that have to do with anything? "No. I'm somewhere north near the coast so either Washington State or Maine."

"Why do you think that?"

"It's cold and mountainous. I live within a day's hike to the sea. I recognized some of the plant life and I ate plenty of Canadian geese. You asked what state I was in. That implies I'm in the US which leaves Washington State or Maine." I paused. "Or Alaska but I don't think it is cold enough to be Alaska."

He chuckled. "You are correct. You are in Washington State, in a little town called Forks." His face got very serious. "Did someone drop you off in the woods?"

"I don't know."

"Did someone harm you?"

I shook my head in the negative.

"Did someone touch you in a sexual manner?"

Shit. I remember now why I'm so uncomfortable with this line of questioning. Mild panic popped up as I remember the last time someone asked me this question. I was 3 and the ordeal that came after was terrifying and degrading.

Unfortunately for me, I had that hesitation due to memories before shaking my head no. I can see that Dr. Cullen doesn't believe me.

"Did someone kidnap you?" At least he is letting that go for now.

No.

"Did you run away?"

No.

"Then how did you end up in the woods that you didn't know the location of?"

"I told you. I woke up there." I am really beginning to get the feeling that he doesn't know this is the afterlife. Or maybe, this isn't actually the afterlife and someone is screwing with me upstairs.

"What happened before you woke up in the forest?" He is pushing to get some answer. But if he doesn't know what happened, then he doesn't remember dying. That means this is probably not the afterlife if the other people here don't remember dying. If he does remember dying and the nothingness from after, then this is the afterlife. But if it isn't the afterlife and I state that I remember dying, I get sent to psychiatric. I don't like psychiatric. Once you get there it is really hard to convince them you are fine and don't need to be full of the happy drugs. But how do I figure out which scenario is it?

After a small amount of time to think how to word my response I finally decide on, "If you do not know what happened before I woke up in the forest, then there is no need for you to know."

If this is the afterlife, he should be able to figure out it is because I died. Otherwise, I will treat this as not the afterlife until I know otherwise.

"And why is that?" He asked.

ERNNNT. Wrong answer doc. Until I know more and I'm not liable to say something without thinking, my mouth is staying shut. Ask again when my head isn't full of cotton.

When he saw it was clear I wasn't going to answer he tried a different tactic. "Raine, I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened."

I don't need your help with anything besides fixing my leg, doc.

Once he realized that I was done talking for the day, he sighed and stood up from his chair. "I'll leave you to rest for now but don't think this is the end of this. The police want to talk to you. I can hold them off until tomorrow but they will come." He walked out after that and I was left alone.

Once I was alone, my brain slowly fell into a doze. I wanted to stay awake to think about what I was going to do but I was spent. I used up all of my energy focusing enough for the conversation with Dr. Cullen and the drugs they gave me are really laying on the lethargy. So I dozed. And after about an hour of no one coming in to bother me, I fell into a light sleep.

When I awoke, it was to a nurse. 2 nurses actually.

"Hey." One of them softly said. "What is your name?"

"Raine." I croaked back.

"When were you born?"

"October 12th."

That seemed to satisfy them for now. "We are going to give you a sponge bath and change you into a gown. Are you comfortable with us undressing you?"

I nodded. I didn't care what they did, I just wanted to go back to sleep. I could feel them start to sit me up to take my fur shirt off, and I got confused on how my arm with the IV in managed to get through the sleeve fine. I got curious enough to look and saw they had clamped and removed the line for the moment. Once the furs were off, they removed my woven one next. The air that touched my bare skin was cool. They gently scrubbed the dirt off of me. I could feel them brushing against the various scars I had obtained during my time in the forest. I had had close calls before, but this was the first one that would've killed me if someone hadn't come by.

When they finished my top, they put a hospital gown over me and tied the back in 3 places. They reconnected my IV and then, moved the blanket to mainly cover my top. They gently pulled my fur leggings off, the other fur sock, and my woven pants. Again, they gently scrubbed the dirt off and at least gave me some underwear. I feel back asleep once they were done and they covered me back up with another heated blanket.

Soon enough, I was being shaken again. At least the nurse had food this time from what I could smell.

"What is your name?" She asked softly.

"Raine."

"When were you born?"

"October 12th."

"Would you like some food?"

Hell, yes I would like some food. I'm hungry. I didn't eat much before I hiked out to check my traps because I was already rationing my supplies. I nodded yes to let her know I was fully up to eating even shit hospital food.

She pressed a button and the back of the bed rose higher so I was closer to sitting upright without me needing to move. She set down the tray. It had soup, an apple, some pudding, and water to drink. I reached for the spoon as soon as she did. I refuse to be fed like a baby.

I took a bite of the soup and immediately spat it out. "Too spicy." I said.

She looked very confused by that. "It isn't hot."

I shook my head. "Too many spices in it." It tasted like someone dumped the entire container of each spice used in the bowl. It was too much. I chugged the water down to get rid of the taste and then ate on the apple. The apple was amazing. It was really sweet. I had missed apples. I ate it all, minus a few seeds. Those were pretty bitter. I took a bite of the pudding and had to stop. The nurse looked surprised when I stopped after the first bite of pudding.

"Do you not like it?"

"It's too sweet."

She didn't say anything about it, but gave me a weird look when she took the food back out. I felt more awake now and actually bothered to look around. I was in a small hospital room by my-self. There was a TV in the corner and a bathroom to the side. The remote was over by the side of the bed on a small table. I could hear people walking outside of the room as they wheeled things or rushed off to do whatever they needed to do. I glanced over beside me to see if I could find a clock. It was late, almost 9pm. I had a window but it was shut. I really wanted to get up, but they hadn't given me any crutches.

It felt very antsy. I really wished I had some bark to make some cordage. Making things had been my way to combat boredom and I had gotten really good at making rope. Some people fidget by tapping things or by shaking their legs; I fidget by making rope. But, with nothing better to do, I turned the TV on. It was really loud. I had to turn it down to 3 before I was comfortable with the volume. I channel surfed before landing on local news. According to it, the year is 2003. And it is the week of Thanksgiving.

 _Interesting. This world is 15 years behind my world._

There wasn't anything interesting from the minute I bothered watching so I just turned it off. I needed to think.

 _The news said it is 2003. Therefore, I can't give the year of my birthday, I have to let them guess my age. I'm sure there is some way for them to guess the age of this body because it is young. I could try and bluff my way into making them think I am of age because mentally, I am of age. But then I have no way to pay for these medical bills and I highly doubt anyone is going to let me just go back to the forest at this point in time. No my best bet is to keep quiet and let them draw their own conclusions and wait and see what happens. The most likely scenario is I am going to be brought to either a group home or a foster family in the area. Once I am healed up, I can run off and get back to my home. I hadn't ran into anyone before so I have the feeling it is pretty out of the way for humans to get to for hiking, camping, and hunting for pleasure._

Once I was satisfied with my current course of action, I fell into one of my "watchful" states. I use it when I need to be quiet for long periods of time and can't fidget (like when I need to hunt or if I am scouting out a new area). It is a good way to pass the time since it doesn't feel like sleep is going to come to me. I'm in a new area, I don't know where everything is and I don't know what predators are lurking about. I don't have any defenses and even though I know mentally that nothing will happen if I fall asleep, past experiences in a new area is screaming at me to stay awake.

Soon enough, I heard a nurse outside my door and I came to full alert awareness.

"Oh, you're awake." She said when she came in. She checked my leg and ankle. "I suppose you know the drill at this point. Name?"

"Raine."

"Birthday?"

"October 12th." I said, working hard to not roll my eyes. By this point the concussion is more or less gone. My head just aches where my stitches are. It is no longer fuzzy.

The nurse smiled at me. "Well, Raine, my name is Sally. Are you having trouble sleeping?"

"Not tired." I ain't going to sleep now. Now is when night life really picks up. And if a mountain lion or otherwise is going to wander into my camp, now is when it would happen. I have no fire and I am not bunkered down behind the fence around my shelter.

"Would you like some help sleeping?" She asked. I shook my head in the negative. "Okay, I won't give you a sedative now. But if Dr. Cullen doesn't think you are getting enough sleep, he will give you one. Do you need to use the restroom?"

Well now that you mentioned it, I really do need to pee.

She stepped out and came back with a bed pan. Lovely. Once I was done, she took it out and came back with materials to change my IV.

"Try and get some rest." She said when she finished. "A nurse will be in around 6 and Dr. Cullen will probably be in as soon as he gets here."

Once she walked out, I went back to thinking. By now it is close to 1:30am. Now that I can think clearly, I find the name Cullen with Forks, Washington to sound familiar. He had pale skin and golden eyes, also sounding familiar. _Where have I heard of that before?_ I tried thinking big events that happened in the early 2000s or perhaps it is a name in history. Soon enough, it hits me.

 _No. That's not possible._

 ** _You remember dying. I think at this point in time anything is possible._**

 _But to be shoved into a freaking book!? And it isn't even a good book! I read it in middle school when I thought shit romance novels like that were good!_

 ** _Ok, so assume this isn't Twilight and it happens to be a coincidence. What then?_**

 _No, it has to be Twilight now that I think about it. It is the only way Carlisle would've heard me fall and he could've picked me up and carried me to the car within 5 minutes which would explain why I'm not being tested for a much more severe concussion. Light confusion, a headache, and being out for less than 5 minutes means a mild concussion and you only get the basic check. Especially since my skull doesn't have any fractures._

 ** _Yes, well you have always had a thick skull._**

 _I get it honestly and you know it._

 ** _And now that you have this information, what are you going to do with it?_**

 _Well I can't go up to a group of vampires and tell them "oh I read about you and know everything about you, blah blah blah." I'll be seen as a threat. I'll be listed as needing to be changed or needing to be killed. I don't particularly like any of those ideas._

 ** _Well, you need to do something. In 7 hours the police are going to come knocking with questions you can't answer._**

 _I could give need to know only to Carlisle. Enough to get him interested but not enough to make it seem like I know a lot. Their cover story is that he foster/adopted his coven. This is a small town I highly doubt anyone else would have the paperwork declaring the family already went through the hassle of convincing social workers and the government that they are able to adequately care for their children (even though they never actually did that)._

 ** _Say you do get placed with them. They wouldn't like the scrutiny that their family would be under to deal with the social worker and the courtroom case._**

 _It wouldn't be for long. It is a small town so hopefully it would be kept on the down-low. They have plenty of money to grease fingers where necessary and this is before social media really takes off. As long as news cameras and reporters stay away (which is more likely for here than a big city) it should be okay. As long as I refuse to talk about my last name, my real birthdate, and pretend I don't know my social (which for anyone who is under 21 that is very believable) then they can't do anything except place me with a foster home. Worst thing that might happen is I get court ordered to psychiatric due to not talking._

 ** _Or, you know. You get eaten._**

 _It would be no worse chance than when I was in the woods on their hunting grounds._

 ** _Alright, say that does work out. What are you going to say to him to persuade him to take you home with him?_**

 _I'll think of something._

I ran through multiple scenarios. Each one worse than the next. I finally decided that I would keep it simple. I would give a little bit of trust to Carlisle and then hope that his compassion and curiosity would kick in enough to at least help me out a little bit. After having a bit of a better plan and after the more active hours of night, I finally managed to go to sleep.

I woke up around 5:30am. Normally, I would wake to see how much it snowed and dig myself out if necessary. During the peak of winter, I would have to clear a path multiple times during the night and during the day to keep me from being buried under the snow. I usually, would pile the excess snow into a wall around my camp that would stay until spring came. If I didn't need to dig myself out that particular morning and I didn't notice anything unusual around camp, I would normally go back to sleep until twilight came.

But sadly, I was not at my camp. I was in a loud hospital as the shift changed. And everything hurt again.

Not long after I woke, another nurse came in. He smiled. "Good morning." He checked my pupil response and did the usual concussion questions. "Are you hungry?" He asked while checking my leg. I nodded. "Well, breakfast should be coming around in about 30-40 minutes from now." He checked my stitches. "Do you have a headache?" I shook my head. "Do you feel sore?" I nodded. "On a scale from 1 to 10 how sore are you?"

"It's about a 3 everywhere. My leg is about a 5 at the moment." I answered softly.

"I'll come back with someone to fix that. Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

No.

He stepped out and soon enough food came. It was eggs and bacon with some orange juice. The eggs had no seasoning and the bacon wasn't nearly salty enough. There were some salt and pepper packets on the try and I dumped the salt contents on my food. It was good and the juice was sweet.

They cleared the try away, loaded me up on painkillers and then Dr. Cullen came in.

"Good morning, Raine. How are you feeling this morning?" He asked.

"Like I fell off a small cliff." I bit out. How the hell do you think I'm feeling?

He seemed amused by that. "Yes, I would imagine so." He prodded my leg. "Do you have a headache or any nausea?"

I shook my head no.

"Sally told me you didn't sleep much last night. May I ask why?"

I shrugged. Trying to explain all of the reasons on why I wouldn't sleep at that time of night would be difficult to form into words. Not to mention I am not letting him know I needed some time to think without a vampire coven being near-by.

He assessed me with a look before stating, "The police would like to come talk to you around 9 this morning."

That is the absolute last thing I need. Now is as good a time as ever to try and put my crappy plan into motion.

"Dr. Cullen…Carlisle." I started. He seemed slightly shocked I knew his first name. "You have a family of 6 others correct?" He nodded, seemingly curious on where I was going with this. "You have your wife Esme, 3 sons: Emmet, Jasper, and Edward, and 2 daughters: Alice and Rosalie."

He is getting suspicious now. "Where did you hear about them and what do they have to do with anything regarding you?"

"That is beside the point. Your first son, Edward, will find his mate here in Forks in about a year and a half."

His face fell suspiciously blank. I could feel the stress of what I was doing start to build up. "What makes you say that?" He seemed to weigh each word.

"My best bet to get out of here is through your and your family. I don't want trouble. I don't want to cause you trouble. I would honestly just prefer to go back to my place in the woods and if need be I can move onto the tribal lands. When the police are done asking questions I can't answer they are going to try and put me in either a group home or a foster home. I want and need neither. Your family's cover story is my best chance to stay in the area with people who understand the need for secrets to be left alone." I said my piece, now I can only pray that his family makes a decision in my favor.

His face stayed blank when I finished and I could feel my stress rising by the second. Finally, he spoke. "Say we did managed to take you in. What then?"

"I would stay only long enough to heal and then I would be out of your hair. I could even sleep outside."

"They would want you to go to school."

 _Wait. What?_ I'm sure I looked taken aback by that. "Why?"

"It is expected for a young girl to be in school at your age." His face is still blank. Where is the emotion? He is just sitting here asking questions in a clinical manner. I don't understand what he wants.

"Fuck that. I'll bum rush a GED if necessary."

"They would want to do home checks." Seriously? It is almost like he is trying to talk me out of this idea. Sorry but this is the only option that is even semi acceptable and I know, it's a shitty option.

"Then I will behave during them and you shouldn't have a problem with them." I grit out.

"They might move you after some time."

"Then I will disappear."

"Why not disappear now?"

"You know as well as I that is not an option. Not for a good 6 weeks if not longer."

"Why can you not cooperate with the police?"

"I cannot give them the answers they seek." I could feel myself getting frustrated at this point with the interrogation.

Carlisle had a strange glint in his eye at that answer. "Can't or won't?"

"Can't." I said firmly.

"Why?"

I shook my head. "Some secrets must be kept." I leveled my gaze at him with that statement. _You know some secrets must be kept_.

I heard footsteps outside the door and moved my eyes to it. He gave no indication that he had heard someone outside even though I know he knows there is. There is a knock and Carlisle goes to open it.

"Chief Swan, just in time." He went back to smiles and handshakes. He led in an older man in full police uniform. "Chief Swan, Raine. Raine, Chief Swan. I'll leave you two to talk." He walked out and I worked hard to calm down as my only chance out walked away.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hello, Raine." Swan started out, gently.

"Hello." I do not want to talk to you.

"Dr. Cullen said he found you in the woods. Is that true?"

I nodded.

"What were you doing out there?"

I pulled my face into an expressionless mask. Time to play ball. "I live there."

"Is there someone who lives with you?"

I shook my head no.

"Is there someone we can contact for you?"

No.

He visibly paused before changing tracks. "How old are you, Raine?"

I shrugged, still watching him closely. Looking closely for what, I don't know but I felt the need to do so.

"When is your birthday?"

"October 12th."

"And the year?"

I shrugged. Let him assume what he wants from that.

"I am going to assume you are a minor. Dr. Cullen and a few others told me they could guess you were around 13-14 years old. Do you know what that means?"

My eyes hardened at that. They might not know it, but I haven't needed a guardian for a few years now. "The government believes I need a guardian."

"Yes. We can't have a 14 year old alone by herself in the woods. It would be a disservice to you."

"And why can't I live in the woods by myself? I had managed fine there."

He sighed, seeming to have expected this argument from me. Well that can't do. I can't be predictable. That won't get me close to what I want which is no guardian since Dr. Cullen doesn't seem to be inclined to help me at the moment, not that I blame him. He has a coven to take care of and having a fresh human blood bag in the house all the time would test some control.

Chief Swan slowly asked me this: "What would've happened if no one had found you earlier?"

"I would've set the bone myself and dragged my ass back home to bundle up for the winter."

He shook his head. "I don't think you understand the pain in setting your own leg-"

I pulled up my gown at that and growled at him. He grew quiet when he saw the scars. "This, Chief Swan are the scars I received from a bear." I spat at him. "I am more than capable of self-tending to my wounds."

He stayed quiet for a few minutes before he softly asked, "How did you survive?"

I looked him directly in the eye while I remembered the pain from those days. "I had to cauterize parts of the wound together to keep from bleeding out. I had to make my own remedy against infection with yarrow and feverfew poultice and valerian and aspen tea. When it did get some infected bubbles, I had to lance it to allow it to drain before I moved to having maggots eat the infected flesh before cauterizing the rest of it." I harden my gaze and hissed out. "I can take care of myself and I don't need your pity."

I could see it as I told him of one of many mistakes I made, the pity in his eyes. I did not want it nor did I need it. These scars were proof I had survived by any means necessary. But sadly for me, this interview is not over yet.

"There are some questions I have to ask, Raine. I would prefer it if you are honest though I know I have done nothing to gain your trust here today." He steeled himself. "Did someone drop you off in the woods?"

No.

"Did someone harm you in any way before or after being in the woods?"

No.

"Did you run away?"

No.

"Did someone sexually abuse you?"

No.

"Did you have a bad argument with someone?"

No.

"Is there anything you would like to tell me?"

"Can I go back home?" I asked in a monotone voice.

"Where is home?" He leaped on that.

"In the woods." You knew that answer was coming chief.

"At this moment, no. Someone will come talk to you about being placed somewhere." He sighed. "I don't know when the social worker will come, probably the day you get discharged. It was nice meeting you." And he walked out.

Whelp. That could've gone better. Also, wasn't he supposed to have had someone else in here with him during this? Isn't that the general policy or did that come later? Or would a small town not be equipped to handle it?

I'm more shocked they haven't sent in a psychologist yet –

The door opened and in walked a female with a bright smile. She did not seem to have any equipment for checking vitals, bringing meds, or what have you so I put on a blank face.

"Hello, Raine. My name is Lauren. Some staff were concerned with how long you spent without human contact in a dangerous situation. Now, I will admit that this is a hospital first, but it is never a bad policy to have someone check in on the mental health of all patients."

Speak of the devil.

I didn't react. I was mildly curious on what she would ask and how she would play the game. I win if I come off as more or less okay by a typical human standard. I lose if I come off as crazy. AKA nothing gets mentioned before I woke up in the forest. It's too dangerous.

Lauren did a once over on my body language before continuing. "Now there are some questions that I have to ask as part of a general assessment. You do not have to answer if you do not want to, I would only request you tell me why. After that we can go into some of the behaviors or stories you have told others that had them concerned." The entire time I kept a blank face. "Do you have any family history of mental illness?"

Yes. "Not that I'm aware of."

"Have you ever considered killing yourself?"

Yes, but I thought I was already dead so there was no point. "No."

"Do you ever feel out of control of your emotions or actions?"

I keep those under lock and key. "No."

"Have you ever heard of seen things that no one else does?"

"No."

"Have you had physical sensations that are strange?"

Yes. "No."

"Has anyone ever harmed you before in a way that could be considered traumatizing?"

Yes. "No."

"Have you ever had illegal drugs?"

"No." Drugs are disgusting and lead to being out of control.

"Have you ever drank alcohol?"

Not in this body. "No."

"When was your last menstrual period?"

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. "I have no idea. Not for a few months at least."

She made a few notes of things. "Have you ever had sex?"

Not in this body and I don't count anything before the age of 5. "No."

"Have you ever felt unsafe in your home?"

I gave her an incredulous look. "Miss, I don't know if you have ever been out in the forest but one can argue that it is not a safe place. Yes there have been times I have not felt safe in my camp."

She looked a little caught off guard by that but she quickly schooled her face back to passive. "And what about where you were staying before you came to be in the woods?"

That is honestly a tossup for before the void. I wouldn't call it unsafe more of a general fear of getting shot in either a drive by or campus shooting – not that they would understand at this time. "No."

"Well, that covers all the questions I am required to ask. Sally mentioned you didn't sleep much last night. Might I ask why?"

"Nights get cold and sometimes dangerous animals stumble on my camp at that time. I need to be up to tend to the fire and be alert in-case I need to leg it up a tree. Last night I had no fire, no stake fence surrounding me, and I am injured. To stay alive in that situation, you stay awake." I stated this as calmly and collectively as I could but I couldn't help the tone of _well, duh_ completely out.

"Was it always like that in the woods?"

"No. That was only sometimes. Most of the time it was very peaceful and very freeing."

"The Chief said you wear attacked by a bear at some point. How did that happen?"

"It was early days and before I could sense other animals extremely well. I accidently stumbled between a mother and her cubs. The mother did not like that and she attacked. She batted me away and I punched her snout before scrambling up a tree. I tore up my shirt to bandage my wounds until I could get back to camp while I waited for her to gather her crew and leave. I was lucky that I had already found some medicinal herbs and had worked on drying them. If I hadn't I might've died from infection, shock, and bloodloss."

"That must've been scary."

"It was interesting, staring down death but there were times it wasn't scary necessarily. If I had died, I found I would've been okay with it. And if I didn't, I would also be okay with it. It is hard to describe." Of course, I didn't think I could die again at the time, but that isn't something I can mention.

"Was it ever lonely?"

"There were times, yes. But after a few months you become content. You become one with the mountain the longer you are out there. There is no need to 'do what is right' or follow other people's expectations. You are one hundred percent on your own and every action you do has a pretty clear consequence or set of consequences. Some people would think that it is crazy, but once you try it, it is hard to go back to a societal view of things. People are hard to predict but nature is easy." That was a word vomit. That makes zero sense. What in the world.

"I can understand that. Out there you have the ability to be who you are. But did you ever miss anyone?"

I felt my heart tug. My B. "There are a few people I miss, yes."

"I'm sure they miss you. Why don't you contact them and let them know you are alright?"

"You don't understand. They are not on this world. They are not here. I physically can't contact them."

Her eyes saddened a bit. "I am sorry for your loss. Is there anyone from your past you would be willing to contact?"

"Miss, no offence, but no. I am leaving the past where it is." I have no choice in that matter.

"Might I ask why?"

I had to think for a moment on how exactly to word this. "It isn't that I want to forget where I come from or the experiences I have had, but there is a distinct difference between before the forest and after the forest. I am no longer that person and I won't ever be able to be that person ever again. No one who knew me well would be where I left so there is no point in going back." I paused and decided to take a gamble. "If I speak about where I am from, I will be sent back where I would be coerced to act like the person I was rather than who I am now. They would not be able to accept such a drastic change and I have no reason to put myself in such a toxic emotional environment."

"Shouldn't you give them the chance? They might accept it." Lauren softly said.

I chuckled at that. "Miss, I think you work with enough broken people to understand that humans do not do well with change. And if it is a person who has changed, they have a hard time accepting that they should change to accommodate them instead of trying to force them to change back. And then, they have to make the choice to change. Choosing to change for the better is something the human race in general struggles with."

She nodded a bit at that and thought for a moment. "Thank you for being willing to talk to me. I am going to offer some advice on what I think based on what you have told me. I think you need someone to be in your court who you also trust. You don't have a support network right now from the sound of it. I know you don't know anyone here and I know you don't know where you are going to end up, but perhaps try to make some friends along the way? You don't have to resist all of the time."

I gave her a thoughtful look. "I will take that into consideration, Miss."

"That is all I ask. It was nice meeting you." She walked out and I was left alone.


End file.
